Qaboos calls on Omanis to exercise right to vote
Qaboos calls on Omanis to exercise right to vote
Muscat: Love for the homeland is part of your faith and service to your country is a religious duty, says a pamphlet issued by the Interior Ministry in Oman, while urging citizens to exercise their right to vote.
The pamphlet has wider guidelines, issued in Arabic, advising would-be voters on how to go about their right to elect a representative to the Majlis Ashura (Advisory Council) on October 27.
Asking Omani citizens to take part in the elections, the pamphlet calls upon participants to set an example of good citizenship. The pamphlet carries excerpts from one of Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed's speeches in which he said that all are equal before the law and that all are brethren in the concept of Islamic social justice, with the best merit going to those who serve their country more faithfully.
The guidelines caution that voters will not be allowed to enter the election centre without their identity card or a machine-readable passport. It advises voters to be careful to make a tick in the right place and not to choose more than one candidate. Votes will be invalid if the voting card is damaged.
The pamphlet stresses the participation of women in the elections, saying their presence in the Majlis Ashura is a deserved civilised practice that serves the whole country.
The pamphlet also reveals that candidates have a right to go to the election centre in person or deputise someone to represent them to check the ballot boxes are empty prior to the voting process and that the boxes are intact.
According to guidelines, every citizen has a right to watch the sorting process on the screen in the designated hall. Candidates have been prohibited from campaigning on the day preceding the elections or trying to exercise direct or indirect influence over members of the election committees or interfering with the election process in any way.
The elections and counting will take place electronically.
Meanwhile, a report by the government-owned Oman News Agency (ONA) said voters living abroad had already cast their ballot at Omani embassies. An official at the Interior Ministry told ONA eleven election centres at the Sultanate's embassies in Saudi Arabia, the UAE (Abu Dhabi and the Oman's consulate in Dubai), Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Yemen and Malaysia received voters.
Hot contest: 632 candidates vying for 84 seats
- After withdrawals and disqualifications, 632 candidates remain in the field out of the initial list of 717 announced in May. The elections are held for 61 wilayats (provinces) for 84 seats.
- Twenty-three wilayats have the right to elect two members in Majlis Ashura, while 38 wilayats will have one member.
- The number of election centres numbers 102, there are 11 in Muscat Governorate, 29 in the Al Batinah region, seven in Musandam Governorate, four in the Al Buraimi Governorate, six in the Al Dhahirah region, 11 in the Dakhiliyah region, 17 in the Sharqiyah region, 4 in the Al Wusta region and 13 centres in the Governorate of Dhofar.
